1 Corinthians – Deffinbaugh Notes 1 Cor 3:1-23 Oct 5, 2015 Substandard Saints (1 Cor. 3:1-4) Introduction I probably read the automobile section of the Want Ads more often than most. In addition to the year, make, and model of the car, certain bits of information determine whether I call the owner1 to ask for more information. Normally, good automobiles are identified by labels such as, “cream puff,” “immaculate,” “like new,” “showroom condition,” “pristine” or “spotless.” The losers’ category, from which I usually buy, are labeled “basic transportation,” “cheap,” “rough,” “good work vehicle,” “mechanics special,” “needs TLC,” or even “ugly.” A friend once owned a Vega (so did I, but I repented), and I offered to write the newspaper ad when she decided it was time to sell. Since it was Thanksgiving, I suggested the ad read: “Here’s a real turkey! Only 39 cents a pound.” Other labels are not clear about the quality of the car for sale. Recently a Honda was advertised as, “One very old owner.” I know what “one owner” means, but I could not grasp what the seller meant by “very old.” Were they elderly and no longer driving very much or very fast, or had the car been driven by someone whose driving skills had deteriorated so much the car had reached a premature demise? Labels are also a part of the Christian’s vocabulary, and not all are biblical. As we approach the third chapter of Paul’s first recorded Epistle to the Corinthians, we find several labels, and one is the source of fairly intense debate among evangelicals. The label, “carnal Christian,” is based upon the rendering of our text in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 by the King James Version: 1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? (1 Corinthians 3:1-3, KJV, emphasis mine). The King James’ rendering of “carnal” comes from the influence of the Latin Vulgate translation. The Latin word chosen to translate the Greek word, sarkinos, is equivalent to the English rendering, “carnal.” This is probably not the best rendering because of the nuances of the term, which the translators of the NASB changed to fleshly, and the NIV version to worldly. J. B. Phillips focuses on the contrast Paul makes with those who are spiritual and renders the term unspiritual. There are several good reasons for restricting our study to only the first four verses of chapter 3 and the topic of the “carnal Christian.” First, the debate over the category of the “carnal Christian” is heated, with broad implications for good or evil. Second, the label, “carnal Christian”—whatever it means—is one Paul uses to describe the condition of many of the Corinthian Christians. This is a most important point. The first and second Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians are about “True Spirituality,” the title I have chosen for this series. Paul defines true spirituality, contrasted with the “carnality” of the Corinthians, and with their understanding of spirituality. Understanding what Paul means by “carnal” becomes crucial to our grasp of his two Epistles to the Corinthians. With this in view, let us carefully and prayerfully consider the “carnal Christian” summarized in our text. The Context of Our Text Paul lays the foundation for this Epistle in the first nine verses of chapter 1. He indicates his letter is not only written to the saints at Corinth but to all the saints (verse 2). He assumes that his readers are true saints, and, therefore, he gives thanks to God because he knows God has abundantly provided for their salvation, sanctification, and future glorification. Paul’s confidence is not in the Corinthians, but in the God who saved them and who will perfect them (verses 4-9). At verse 10, Paul begins to deal with the problem of divisions within the saints. He first exhorts them to live in unity (verse 10), and then indicates he is aware of factions emerging in Corinth which seem to focus on following a particular leader (verses 11-12). Paul strongly rejects such divisions as contrary to the gospel (verse 13). He then speaks of his own ministry, and the fact that preaching the gospel takes priority over such secondary matters as baptism, important though they may be (verses 14-17). Verse 17 serves as Paul’s transition to his next line of argument. He says his preaching is not done in “cleverness of speech,” because this is detrimental to the proclamation of the cross of Christ. (If the cross is the good news that, in Christ, God has enabled men to die to all they were as unbelievers, how can Paul preach in a way that seeks to capitalize on human skill and ability?) Men and women who boast that they are followers of a certain prominent leader (“I am of …”), or of Christ Himself, are exhibiting pride. Paul reminds his readers in verses 18-31 that the preaching of Christ crucified is diametrically opposed to worldly pride. He therefore encourages his readers in verses 18-25 to look around the church and remind themselves that the culturally elite, in whom the world takes pride, are strangely absent. This is because the gospel is an offense to them, appearing to them as foolish and weak. Conversely, they are attracted to worldly wisdom and power. In verses 26-31, Paul tells his readers to look about them to see whom God has chosen to save. As they look to their left and to their right, and in the mirror, with few exceptions, they must note that God has chosen those whom the world’s elite despise and reject. 1 One of the first things I try to determine is whether this car is being sold by the owner. My first statement is, “Hi, I’m calling about the car you have advertised in the paper.” If they respond, “Which one?”, I know I am dealing with a “wheeler-dealer” of some sort, which almost always ends the conversation. 1 1 Corinthians – Deffinbaugh Notes 1 Cor 3:1-23 Oct 5, 2015 God chooses to save the weak, the foolish, and those who are “nobodies.” Through them, He accomplishes His purposes so that God’s power is revealed, and He receives the praise and the glory, rather than men. In the first five verses of chapter 2, Paul reminds his Corinthian readers that they were saved through weakness and foolishness. When Paul first came to them in Corinth, his mentality, his message, and his method were those the world’s elite disdain. He came in “weakness and in fear and in much trembling,” (verse 3), having purposed to know nothing the world regards as wisdom, but only Christ, and Christ crucified (verse 2). He came preaching simply, with no secular techniques of human persuasion (verse 4). He did so because God’s power is demonstrated through human weakness, and men’s faith then rests in God rather than men (verse 5). Just because the world regards the gospel as foolish does not mean Paul and the other apostles have no wisdom to teach. Paul does teach wisdom, but only to those who are mature in Christ (2:6). Paul’s kind of wisdom cannot be grasped by those who are “wise” in this present age. Paul drives his point home by reminding us that God’s wisdom has been revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. What did the rulers of His day do with Him? They crucified Him (verse 8). If the culturally elite (the “wise” of this age) had been able to grasp divine wisdom, they could not have missed it in Christ. But if they crucified our Lord, the Lord of glory, we must not deceive ourselves into thinking they can be won through worldly wisdom and worldly methods. Paul further drives home his point by turning our attention in verse 9 to the words of Isaiah. These words buttress Paul’s argument, informing us that the natural senses cannot discern the things of God, the eternal wisdom pertaining to things yet to be revealed. If men are not capable of knowing God by their own efforts, how can God ever be known by men? Paul answers this dilemma in verses 10-16. Of His initiative, God chose to reveal Himself to men through His Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God alone knows the “depths of God” and has revealed them through the human authors of the New Testament, so that in these Scriptures the “wisdom of God” is revealed, which men cannot otherwise know (verses 10-13). The same Spirit who converted the “spiritual thoughts” of God into “spiritual words” (i.e., the New Testament Scriptures) also enables believers to understand the wisdom of God. The natural, unconverted man, does not have the Spirit within, and thus he cannot understand the Scriptures. The Spirit indwells the Christian, the “spiritual man,” and thus he is able to understand this current age and the mysteries of God revealed in Scripture concerning the coming age (verses 14-16). The Corinthian saints have begun to look down upon Paul (and the other apostles) and the gospel message he preaches because it is simplistic (Christ crucified).